Lawmakers worry as local police take on immigration

Panel calls for more scrutiny of ICE program

Published 6:30 am, Thursday, March 5, 2009

Several members of a key U.S. House committee called for greater oversight of a controversial federal program that allows local law enforcement to detain suspected illegal immigrants, citing a recent report that questioned its effectiveness.

The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, found that because of the lack of data the federal government could not determine how many illegal immigrants identified and removed through the program were violent criminals and how many were arrested for minor violations.

“The record is incomplete, at best, as to whether or not this program is a success,” said House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., who also raised concerns about the potential for racial profiling.

Support from GOP

Some committee members, primarily Republicans, defended the so-called 287 (g) program, which has expanded rapidly in the past three years, growing from 29 participants in 2006 to 67 today, including Harris County and two other Texas agencies. The program has a waiting list with 42 additional agencies.

Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, asked the top ICE official at the hearing whether the program has helped alleviate some of the problems identified in a Houston Chronicle investigation last year.

The newspaper found that prior to the implementation of the program in the Harris County jail, ICE failed to detain one in four inmates who admitted to jailers to being in the country illegally over a span of eight months, including scores of violent, convicted criminals.

William Riley, acting director of the Office of State and Local Coordination for ICE, said Harris County’s program, which started in August with nine deputies, is now one of the largest in the nation in terms of the numbers of suspected illegal immigrants identified, detaining “several hundred” for immigration violations each month.

Data not available

The Memorandum of Agreement between the Harris County Sheriff’s Department and ICE requires the sheriff’s department to maintain “accurate data and statistical information” for the 287 (g) program, but does not specify what information it should collect. The agreement also does not specifically state that the sheriff’s department should target violent criminals.

Paul Mabry, a sheriff’s spokesman, said data on the number of individuals detained through the program was not available Wednesday.

The GAO report, which examined 29 participants in 287 (g), found that some law enforcement agencies had used the program to identify and deport immigrants “who have committed minor crimes, such as carrying an open container of alcohol.” The report said at least four agencies referred minor traffic offenders for deportation.

‘The worst of the worst’

At the hearing, Richard Stana, director of the GAO, questioned whether the government’s focus should be on people accused of petty offenses.

“These are resources we want to devote to the worst of the worst,” Stana said. “ ... That’s what ICE’s informal guidance says. But that’s just not articulated and not understood by the program participants in all cases.”

Riley said ICE was in the process of reviewing all of the agreements and preparing guidance for local agencies.

U.S. Rep. Michael T. McCaul, R-Austin, said 287 (g) has been successful and should be expanded. McCaul has questioned ICE officials in Texas previously about including other agencies, such as the Katy Police Department and the Austin County Sheriff’s Office.

“The only problem that I have seen is that more local police departments want to participate in it that cannot qualify, and ICE does not have the resources it needs to properly carry this out,” McCaul said.

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